Mrs. Walker's fifth grade class had fun experimenting with acids and bases as part of a webquest this week! They did research on their Macbooks to find common indicators, acids, and bases. They then made an indicator from cabbage juice to experiment with the way that acids and bases change colors. They reported their findings on a chart and will compose a Keynote presentation on their Macbooks to show everything that they learned this week. Acids, bases, and indicators are in one of the main objectives that fifth grade students in Alabama cover.

Sixth grade students in Mrs. Cardwell’s class just finished studying the Great Depression. Students learned about the causes and effects of the Great Depression.

Students added the events of the Great Depression to their yearlong iMovie project. Students have been working all year on making a U.S. history documentary using iMovie on their MacBooks.

Sixth grade students will begin studying oceans next week. They will visit websites with information, activities, and games about oceans, make murals of the ocean floor and ocean zones, and watch the Disney Nature video, “Oceans.”

Please help support our fundraising efforts this week with the Mixed Bag and Simply Sheets fundraisers. These are great opportunities to buy wonderful products and help support our school!

Swift Elementary School

First graders in Mrs. Lutz’ class are becoming fluent readers! They enjoy choosing books from their favorite authors, chapter books, and nonfiction books. They especially enjoy reading to their second grade helpers. Fastt Math is helping the children to become fluent with math facts as well. In science they continue to learn much about plants and animals in spring. They are very excited about helping others though our school’s Relay for Recess event.

Mrs. Simmons' first grade students are beginning their last Reading book. They will be working hard to sound like readers and review all of the skills they have learned over the year. In math, they started their unit on 2's, 5's and 10's. This is a fun unit that has many hands on activities. As scientists, the students have been studying matter. They are learning all about the 3 states: solid, liquid, and gas. Many students are really reading and taking AR tests. Mrs. Simmons wants to encourage all her students to read, read, read. This is the best way to improve and become awesome readers for second grade!

Mrs. Rowe’s second graders are heading into the fourth quarter full blast! They are doing great on their Istation Assessments and only have one more to go! They are reading up a storm with Accelerated Reader. Mallorie King has earned 100 AR points! In math they are learning about combinations to 100. They have played games called Roll A Square and Un-Roll A Square. In Science the students just finished learning about the Solar System. They are excited about their upcoming AMSTI unit about organisms!

Mrs. Taylor’s class has been getting ready for spring! They are getting ready to start a new AMSTI unit on Living Things. The students are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their plants and animals! They can’t wait to create terrariums for their millipedes and pill bugs and aquarium for guppies and snails! The students just started their last reading unit of the year! They are excited to be on the home stretch and can’t wait to begin their chapter book studies the last few weeks of the year! In math Mrs. Taylor’s students are practicing all kinds of different investigations! They think word problems are a breeze and love to show their skills adding double digits!

In Mrs. Middleton’s first-grade class, the students experience story time. They read many fiction books. Students love to listen to their teacher read aloud. Many of the stories they read help build character traits.

Ladybugs are the order of business in Ms. Cote’s first-grade class. They have learned lots of new facts. One kind of beetle (like the average ladybug) lives only about three weeks. Also a ladybug is yellow when they are young and when they get older they will turn different colors. Students loved making their own ladybug using construction paper and brads.

Mr. Richardson’s second-grade class is learning many different things about signs. They made a small sign of their own name. In reading they read a story called, The Signmaker’s Apprentice. Also while talking about signs they discussed how signs are everywhere. Finally, the class talked about how sign making is a very well-paying business.

Ms. Simmons’ third-grade class has been learning all about measurement. They are measuring using grams, kilograms, liters, and milliliters. Students are learning about New York City. In Social Studies they have been learning about our government.

Mrs. Ramsey’s fourth-grade class has been learning about electricity in science. They went to Farm Safety Day where they learned ways on how to avoid being electrocuted. The class was shocked when they heard that just being too close to a power line could shock a person. The students thought the trip was interesting and educational.

In Mrs. Watson’s class, they’re studying the Declaration of Independence. They also have to memorize the preamble of the constitution. Also, they are learning the meaning of and practicing the song, “The Star Spangled Banner.” The more they practice, the better students are becoming at singing such a difficult song.

Freaky Friday was just that! The sixth-grade teachers decided to reward all students who exemplified good behavior for an entire nine weeks with a day of food, fun, and frivolity. Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Mashburn planned a day of games and relay races all centered with the “egg” theme for their party. They started with the smallest egg game, Spoon and Egg Relay, and worked their way up. Next, the Egg-Head Race followed by huge eggs used for the Over and Under Relay. The Bunny-Hop Bounce was the final relay for an exhausted group of students. Their day was completed with a huge egg hunt, over 300 plastic eggs filled with candy and bonus points hidden inside.

Foley High School

The Drama Club’s spring production of Bye Bye Birdie is this weekend. The play will be held tonight, April 13 at 7 p.m. and April 14 at 2 p.m. at the Foley Civic Center. Tickets are on sale in Ms. DD Andersen’s room 402 or they may be purchased at the door. Adult tickets are $10 and students are $8. Come out and enjoy a great show!

Foley High School held an informational meeting on April 8 for the new Advanced Placement Academy next year. Anyone that was unable to attend the meeting but would like more information may visit the AP Program section of our website at www.foleyhs.com or contact Guidance Counselor Wendi Lores at 251-971-2133 or Assistant Principal Lynn Harrison at 251-943-6880.

Our students began registration this week for the 2013-2014 school year. All registration and verification is being completed online; we are going paperless this year. Registration will continue through April 18.

Relay for Life is scheduled for April 13. This year’s Relay will run from noon to 12 a.m. at Heritage Park. Foley High is collecting money through donations and by selling footprints for $1. Our goal is $2,500 and all money raised will go directly to the American Cancer Society.

Applications are now being accepted from rising juniors for the South Baldwin Chamber Foundation’s Junior Ambassador program. This program is designed to help juniors develop their own leadership abilities through participation in group activities. These students represent Foley High School and Baldwin County all over the state and have the opportunity to participate in local activities as well as tour WKRG and the state capitol.

This is a wonderful learning experience for upcoming juniors. Anyone interested in receiving more information, may contact Ms. D.D. Andersen in room 402. Applications are due by April 19.